Dishes of Comfort

There are so many dishes that could apply - everything I can cook today was born from the knowledge gained at my mothers side. I am so fortunate to have had such a great schooling and it started at a very young age with the simple task of shelling peas. As I grew older the tasks changed, from peeling to slicing to actually cooking. From learning to know when something is cooked or that it needs more time - I'm still being tutored.

The best bit about feeling a bit under the weather when I was younger was getting those extra special treats - I adored the perfect soft boiled egg with toast soldiers made from crusty pasta dura, each mouthful bound to make me feel better. For birthdays or celebrations, there were Ravioli and Cappelletti, all hand made and without peer. For something sweet, zabaglione, crostoli, zuppa inglese, panettone, just to name a few.

Food is a celebration of life and love so in many ways, every dish is a dish of comfort. So, for this event, I'll be making a dish I learnt from my mother and still make today - Cavolfiore alla Besciamella or Cauliflower with Béchamel.

I think I've lost count on how many times I've made béchamel - it's usually all done by eye but for this post I've brought out the scales to get a measurement.

The cauliflower pieces need to be either steamed or boiled until they are just undercooked - it's important that there's still a bite left in them as they will finish cooking in the oven.

To add a bit more flavour my mother would then sauté the cauliflower pieces in a little butter until they just start to colour.

Make the Béchamel:

In a saucepan, add the diced butter and melt over a medium heat. When just melted add the cornflower and stir, using a whisk until a smooth paste forms.

Let the paste cook for less than 30 seconds - make sure it doesn't get any colour. Add one cup of milk, whisking constantly. It may look lumpy but if you keep whisking they well break down and the mixture will harden again. As soon as it's hard, add the second cup of milk. Stir - this time you'll end up with a smooth thin sauce. Whisk occasionally over a low heat - it's important that you don't rush the process as you want to rid the sauce of any flour taste and that takes time. The sauce usually thickens from the outside in, so just whisk to amalgamate the differing consistencies.

Once it's thickened again add the final cup of milk and repeat the whisking process. This will give you quite a nice thick béchamel - you can add more milk if you want a more thinner sauce but only add it ¼ cup at a time until you achieve the desired thickness.

Add the grated cheeses and use a spoon to stir them through the sauce - continue cooking until the cheeses melt. Add a little white pepper and salt to taste. White pepper is preferred to Black pepper as it doesn't leave the sauce speckled with black dots. Take the sauce off the heat.

Assemble the dish:

Place about half the cauliflower pieces into a baking dish - sprinkle over with a little parmesan and tasty cheese then dot over with about a third of the béchamel. Top this with the remaining cauliflower and béchamel then sprinkle over with more parmesan and tasty cheese.

Cook in a preheated 180°C/350°F until golden brown and heated through - about 30-45 minutes.

It's cheesy and creamy and wonderfully tasty - how could it not comfort you? Easily eaten on it's own but it makes a perfect partner to many a main - be it beef, pork or chicken.

Funny you should mention shelling peas. I was talking to my wife about it and was saying how much better fresh peas taste than frozen. Good on you for getting out the scales, these days I only use them for baking, the rest is always by eye which makes it rather hard to write recipes.

Hi Bucket - how lovely of your father to do that - what wonderful memories to have!

Hi Patricia - I don't know how anyone could not eat cauliflower when it's prepared this way - it's simple but oh so delicious.

Hi Neil - fresh is usually best and while frozen peas are pretty good, fresh ones just have a certain something to them. Savoury dishes are more free-spirited things and there's room to interpret them to your own preferences although for sauces and the like, there are certain rules that need to be followed. For baking though, scales are the way for me.

Cauliflower cheese(as we called it) was truly comfort food.I must try your Mother's tip of sauteing the cauliflower in butter before putting the sauce over.Even though I'm a Mother now twice over, my Mother always makes me a small one when she makes one for herself. Just what good Mothers do I guess.